Copyright Athlon Sports
The Ohio State Buckeyes are enjoying an ideal season, unbeaten after seven games. There should be celebration in Ryan Day’s camp but the real story is quite different. Noon kickoffs have recurred on Ohio State’s schedule this year, causing frustration among fans and management. More importantly, they have become a hindrance to recruiting. These early games put pressure on recruits’ schedules. The Buckeyes attract a lot of young talent and coordinating visits so recruits can get a feel for the program has become a hassle. Mike Pantoni, Ohio State’s general manager, openly expressed his frustration about the matter on the “Ryan Day Show.” “(Home games are a plus) when FOX doesn’t handcuff us with these noon games as we have another one next week,” Pantoni said. “Next weekend we’ll have a lot of kids coming in, a lot of 27s and 28s to start building that relationship with. “A lot of (recruits driving in) but you also get Texas, Florida, California hopping on red-eyes after their game, not landing until 11:30-11:45 calling us and saying, ‘Hey, traffic is really bad. What can I do?'” he explained. “You deal with a lot of crisis management on game day right before kickoff trying to make sure it’s as efficient and smooth as possible.” Multiple four-star and five-star recruits are deterring from the program and planning different visits due to the early schedule. “The early travel is rough,” four-star safety Gavin Williams said. He is switching his visit to Tennessee to check out the Volunteer facility. Five-star linebacker Cooper Witten’s plan to visit Columbus was squashed. Recruiting involves a lot of back and forth between players and coaches, which requires early relationship building. But such tight schedules are also getting in the way of that. Night games are the only solution to end this chaos.
